Naked Brand Group NAKD under CEO Anna Johnson

Naked Brand Group NAKD under CEO Anna Johnson

 

HEXAGRAM 52 – Ken – Keeping Still, Mountain

Above    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

Below    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

The image of this hexagram is the mountain,

the youngest son of

• heaven and
  
• earth.
  

The male principle is at the top,

• because it strives upward by nature;
  

the female principle is below,

• since the direction of its movement is downward.
  

Thus

there is rest

• because the movement has come to its normal end.
  

In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon

the problem of achieving a quiet heart.

It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart.

While Buddhism strives for

• rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana,
  

the Book of Changes holds that

• rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits
  

  movement as its complement.
  

Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.

 

THE JUDGMENT

KEEPING STILL.

Keeping his back still

So that he no longer feels his body.

He

• goes into his courtyard And
  
• does not see his people.
  

No blame.

True quiet means

• keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and
  
• going forward when the time has come to go forward.
  

In this way

• rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time,
  

and thus

• there is light in life.
  

The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement.

The back is named because in the back are located

all the nerve fibers that mediate movement.

If

• the movement of those spinal nerves is brought to a standstill,
  
• the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were.
  

When

a man has thus become calm,

he may turn to the outside world.

• He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings,
  

and therefore

• he has that true peace of mind which is needed
  
  • for understanding the great laws of the universe and
    
  • for action, in harmony with them.
    

Whoever

• acts from these deep levels
  
• makes no mistakes.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Mountains standing close together: The image of KEEPING STILL.

Thus the superior man

Does not permit his thoughts To go beyond his situation.

1The heart thinks constantly.

This cannot be changed,

but the movements of the heart – that is,

a man’s thoughts –

should restrict themselves to the immediate situation.

All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.

 

THE LINES

 

Nine in the third place means:

Keeping his hips still.

Making his sacrum stiff.

Dangerous.

The heart suffocates.

This refers to enforced quiet.

The restless heart is to be subdued by forcible means.

But fire when it is smothered changes into acrid smoke

that suffocates as it spreads.

Therefore, in exercises in meditation and concentration,

one

• ought not to try to force results.
  

Rather,

• calmness must develop naturally out of a state of inner composure.
  

If

• one tries to induce calmness by means of artificial rigidity,
  
• meditation will lead to very unwholesome results.
  

 

Six in the fifth place means:

Keeping his jaws still.

The words have order.

Remorse disappears.

A man in a dangerous situation,

especially when

he

• is not adequate to it,
  
• is inclined to be very free with talk and presumptuous jokes.
  

But injudicious speech easily

leads to situations that subsequently

give much cause for regret.

However, if

a man is reserved in speech,

his words take ever more definite form, and

every occasion for regret vanishes.

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 20 – Kuan – Contemplation (View)

Above    SUN    THE GENTLE, WIND

Below    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

A slight variation of tonal stress gives the Chinese name for this hexagram a double meaning.

It means both

• contemplating and
  
• being seen, in the sense of being an example.
  

These ideas are suggested by the fact that the hexagram can be understood as picturing a type of tower characteristic of ancient China.

• A tower of this kind commanded a wide view of the country;
  

  at the same time, when situated on a mountain,
  

• it became a landmark that could be seen for miles around.
  

Thus the hexagram shows a ruler

• who contemplates the law of heaven above him and the ways of the people below, and
  
• who, by means of good government, sets a lofty example to the masses.
  

This hexagram is linked with the eighth month (September – October).

• The light-giving power retreats and
  
• the dark power is again on the increase.
  

However, this aspect is not material in the interpretation of the hexagram as a whole.

 

THE JUDGMENT

CONTEMPLATION.

• The ablution has been made,
  

But

• not yet the offering.
  

Full of trust they look up to him.

The sacrificial ritual in China began with

• an ablution and
  
• a libation by which the Deity was invoked,
  

after which the sacrifice was offered.

The moment of time between these two ceremonies is the most sacred of all,

the moment of deepest inner concentration.

If piety is

• sincere and
  
• expressive of real faith,
  

the contemplation of it has a transforming and awe-inspiring effect

on those who witness it.

Thus also in nature

a holy seriousness is to be seen in the fact that

natural occurrences are uniformly subject to law.

Contemplation of the divine meaning underlying the workings of the universe gives

to the man who is called upon to influence others

the means of producing like effects.

This requires that power of inner concentration which religious contemplation

develops in great men strong in faith.

• It enables them to apprehend the mysterious and divine laws of life, and
  

  by means of profoundest inner concentration
  

• they give expression to these laws in their own persons.
  

Thus

a hidden spiritual power emanates from them,

influencing and dominating others

without their being aware of how it happens.

 

THE IMAGE

The wind blows over the earth: The image of CONTEMPLATION.

Thus the kings of old

• visited the regions of the world,
  
• Contemplated the people, And
  
• gave them instruction.
  

When the wind blows over the earth it

• goes far and wide and
  
• the grass must bend to its power.
  

These two occurrences find confirmation in the hexagram.

The two images are used to symbolize a practice of the kings of old;

1. in making regular journeys the ruler could, in the first place,
   

   survey his realm and
   

   make certain that none of the existing usages of the people escaped notice;
   

2. in the second,
   

   he could exert influence through which such customs as were unsuitable
   

   could be changed.
   

All of this points to the power possessed by a superior personality.

• On the one hand, such a man
  
  • will have a view of the real sentiments of the great mass of humanity and therefore
    
  • cannot be deceived;
    
• on the other, he
  
  • will impress the people so profoundly,
    
    • by his mere existence and
      
    • by the impact of his personality,
      

    that they will be swayed by him as the grass by the wind.
    

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